ABSTRACT
Ludwig's angina is rapidly spreading cellulitis that may result in potentially lethal upper airway obstruction. There is very little published literature regarding this condition in the pregnant patient. We present a case report of a 20 years old female patient admitted at 30 weeks gestation with tooth pain, submandibular swelling, severe trismus and dysphagia, consistent with Ludwig's angina. Her planned treatment included incision and drainage of associated spaces, teeth extraction, and antibiotic therapy. During a life threatening infectious condition such as the one we describe, risks to the mother and the baby include septicemia, hypoxia and/or asphyxia. We successfully relieved airway obstruction by surgical decompression alone, using a cervical plexus block